Lü Zhongyuan called on every resource at his disposal. He had to locate the Hall Master's daughter within one minute.
"What?! The Hall Master's daughter has been kidnapped?"
"Since when does he have a daughter?"
The news quickly reached the frontier. When the four envoys heard Lü Zhongyuan say the Hall Master had a daughter, their astonishment was mixed with delight.
His daughter was the princess of all Godslayer Hall.
"Damn it! I want to see what murderous bastard dared kidnap our little princess! Soldiers of the Western Region, follow me into Jinghai!" On the video call, Sheng Hu, State-Guarding Envoy of the Western Region, raged so fiercely that his beard bristled.
Anyone who dared kidnap the Hall Master's daughter deserved to have his entire clan wiped out. Nothing less would satisfy his fury.
"Sheng Hu, don't act rashly!" Luo Feng, State-Protecting Envoy of the Northern Region, urged.
They knew his temper all too well. If he went, he would turn Jinghai upside down.
"Sheng Hu, none of us can act without the Hall Master's orders," added Nangong Yan, State-Pacifying Envoy of the Southern Region. He too wanted to storm into Jinghai and personally tear the kidnappers to pieces. But without an order from the Hall Master, acting on their own would be a breach of military discipline.
"At a time like this, who the fuck cares about orders? I don't have time for that!" Sheng Hu jumped into a Black Hawk combat aircraft and started the engines.
"You reckless idiot! The Hall Master has his reasons for not giving an order. What if you charge in and ruin his plans? If anything happens to the princess because of you, dying ten thousand times wouldn't make up for it!"
Gu Baitian, State-Defending Envoy of the Eastern Region, brought Sheng Hu back to his senses with those words.
Yet calming down was one thing. How could he stand knowing that their little princess had been kidnapped, her fate unknown? The fire inside him was already burning.
"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!" He hammered his fists against the aircraft.
"Damn it, I'm in a really foul mood! Luo Feng! I heard a dozen or so Japanese warships were prowling around Goldfish Island in your region again. I'm going to wipe out those sons of bitches right now!"
He sent the Black Hawk roaring forward at full speed. A sonic boom split the sky as he headed for the waters around Goldfish Island.
At a private hospital on the outskirts of Jinghai...
"Brother Tian, who would've thought this girl had such rare Rh-negative blood?" A young doctor gazed excitedly at the bundles of hundred-yuan notes in front of him.
"Fuck!"
The blond-haired thug called Brother Tian slapped him across the head. "Look at you, you fucking small-timer."
"Her blood is only pocket change. The real money is in her organs."
"Get a move on. The buyers are lined up and waiting. Once the organs arrive, we're going to party all night."
On the operating table, a little girl lay pale as paper, desperately weak. She struggled to open her eyes a sliver.
She was Ye Bei's daughter, Xinyu.
Mommy, I'm sorry. I can't stay with you anymore. Though only six, she was heartbreakingly thoughtful.
Please remember to eat on time. When I'm gone, you won't have to work so hard to pay for my treatment.
Daddy...
I haven't even met you. You must still be alive, right?
I wish I could see you just once...
Tears slipped continuously from the corners of her eyes.
Never having met her father was her greatest regret.
As the scalpel slowly approached, Xinyu closed her eyes.
The door exploded with a tremendous crash.
Both men jolted at the noise. The scalpel shook and sliced into Xinyu's skin, but no blood came out.
"Aah!"
The scene drove Ye Bei instantly mad with rage.
He threw back his head and roared, then punched. The blond thug's head burst apart, spraying blood and brains across the room.
The young doctor collapsed onto his backside. Even as a doctor, he could not stomach such a bloody sight. He retched on the spot.
"You dared touch my daughter!" Ye Bei's eyes blazed as the aura of a War God erupted from him.
The doctor's ordinary body could not withstand it. He slammed into the wall, rebounded onto his knees, and spat blood.
"S-Sir, I only took a little blood. They... they made me do it."
"Where is my daughter's blood?" Ye Bei forced down his rage. Saving her came first.
Kneeling on the floor, the doctor shook uncontrollably. "S-Sold. Rh-negative blood is in high demand..."
"Die!" At that single word, another great mouthful of blood poured from the doctor. He toppled slowly to the floor and lay still, every internal organ shattered.
Ye Bei snatched up a transfusion line, inserted one needle into Xinyu's wrist, and drove the other into his own artery.
"Hall Master!" Lü Zhongyuan cried in alarm.
Ye Bei had no time to respond. He watched his blood flow through the tube and into his daughter.
The doctor had said she had rare Rh-negative blood. The same as his. She was his daughter.
She looked like him. She really did.
Gazing down at the child in his arms, Ye Bei showed a rare smile.
Ten minutes later, Xinyu slowly opened her eyes.
"D-Daddy? Is that you?" she asked weakly.
Countless times, she had fallen asleep hugging a photograph of her father. His face was etched into her memory.
"It's me, Xinyu. I'm your daddy." Tears of joy spilled from Ye Bei's eyes.
"It really is you? I'm not dreaming?" She struggled to lift a hand.
Ye Bei gently took it and pressed it against his cheek.
"Wow, I'm not dreaming! It's really Daddy! Daddy!" Feeling his warmth, Xinyu cried out happily, then coughed.
But she had lost too much blood and was terribly weak. After two violent coughs, she fainted again.
"Xinyu!"
Ye Bei cried out, then held his breath and channeled his energy, speeding the flow through the tube.
"Hall Master!" Lü Zhongyuan was frantic. By his estimate, Ye Bei had already given two thousand milliliters of blood.
Ye Bei knew that too. It only made his heart ache more. Those monsters had meant to drain his daughter dry.
"Zhongyuan, investigate everything. I want these people to learn what happens when they touch my wife and child." His voice was eerily calm.
"Yes, sir!"
The sky was about to fall on Jinghai.
Seconds and minutes passed. Ye Bei's face grew steadily paler.
He could not circulate his energy to heal himself. His True Qi would flow through the transfusion line into his daughter, and her small body would never withstand it.
"Xinyu!"
Gu Moli stumbled into the room and threw herself beside her daughter, sobbing and calling her name.
"She's all right. Don't worry. She only passed out from blood loss. She'll wake up soon," Ye Bei reassured her.
Looking at her unconscious daughter, Gu Moli covered her face and wept.
"Miss Gu, I'm sorry. This apology is seven years too late."
"From now on, I'll make up for every hurt you and our daughter have suffered. Many times over." His gaze was sincere, tears glimmering in his eyes.
After that night, he had never imagined that Gu Moli would become pregnant, much less give birth to his daughter.
How much pressure must a mother and child face when the mother had become pregnant out of wedlock? And Gu Moli had been a daughter of the Gu family. Families like hers cared even more about their reputations.
He owed them far, far too much.
"There's no need!" Gu Moli's voice was ice-cold. "You saved my daughter. We're even. From now on, you live your life and I'll live mine. Neither of us owes the other anything."
Ye Bei was about to answer when a wave of dizziness struck him. He bit the tip of his tongue hard. The taste of blood filled his mouth, helping him steady himself.
Only then did Gu Moli notice the tube connecting them, carrying his blood into her daughter little by little.
Her emotions tangled painfully.
She hated this man. Hated him for violating her, for ruining her life.
Yet the man she hated to the bone was now risking his own life, giving his blood to save her daughter.
For a moment, she forgot that Xinyu was his daughter too. Their daughter.
"Mommy..."
The faint voice came as Xinyu slowly opened her eyes.
"Xinyu, how do you feel?" Gu Moli asked at once.
"Much better. Mommy, Daddy's home." Xinyu pointed at Ye Bei, her face glowing with a sweet smile.
Gu Moli froze. Her expression suddenly chilled. Without a word, she took the girl from Ye Bei's arms and held her close.
"Xinyu, he isn't your father. Your father is dead."
"You're lying, Mommy! You're lying! I saw Daddy's picture at home. That's Daddy!" Xinyu began to cry. She was far too young to understand the love and resentment between adults.
"Be good, Xinyu. You're still very weak. Mommy's taking you to the hospital." Gu Moli stood and carried her toward the door.
"Mommy, will Daddy come?" Xinyu looked back at Ye Bei, reluctant to leave him.
Gu Moli did not answer.
"Don't worry, Xinyu. Of course I will. Listen to Mommy, and I'll come find you a little later."
Only then did Xinyu nestle happily against her mother and drift into a peaceful sleep.
Watching their lonely, slender figures recede, Ye Bei felt his guilt deepen.
He understood how Gu Moli felt. Seven years of pain could not be undone in an instant.
All he could do now was make it up to them, many times over.